Despite the persistent shortage of steel nationwide, state-run China Steel Corp (
"We understand the difficulties for certain industries, but to halt the exports may generate trade disputes with other countries," said Chen Yu-sung (
However, in response to questions from lawmakers yesterday in the legislature's Economics and Energy Committee, Chen said the company could cut "exports from 30 percent to 24 percent" of output.
The cost of raw materials for making steel have risen sharply since the second half of last year as the global economy recovered, forcing steelmakers to raise prices.
Strong demand from China has particularly put pressure on prices of steel products, which have surged by between 33 percent and 40 percent from a year ago, according to statistics from the Taiwan Steel and Iron Industries Association (
Industries that use steel, such as the construction, ship building and auto sectors, said they could not afford the higher prices, causing many projects to be halted. A coalition of steel-using industries plans to hold a protest next Monday calling on the government to suspend steel exports like the South Korea government does.
South Korea decided last week to impose export restrictions on scrap iron and steel bars to ease the effect of price hikes.
The problem is also affecting US steel industries, which may soon ask the Bush administration to limit scrap steel exports, Reuters reported yesterday, citing Robert Stevens, president of the Emergency Steel Scrap Coalition.
"According to law, the US government may prohibit or curtail the export of scrap, if conditions warrant. It is clear all the criteria are met in this case," Stevens said in a statement.
Daniel Liu (劉大年), deputy director of the Chunghua Institution for Economic Research's (中經院) WTO Center, said the suspension of steel exports could prompt retaliation from other WTO members.
"Besides, this measure will only resolve the problem in the short term. I think we should respect the market mechanism on this issue in the long run," Liu said, suggesting that the government could provide low-interest loans for the companies suffering from higher steel prices.
Wu Sheng-feng (
As the prices of raw materials such as steel scrap have risen 220 percent over the past two years, companies should adjust their production according to the new costs, Wu said.
Minister of Economic Affairs Lin Yi-fu (
Legislators also criticized the ministry for failing to stabilize the prices of other construction materials, mainly sand and gravel.
The shortage of sand and gravel since the end of last year has driven up prices, halting building construction projects.
Lin responded that the ministry had lifted the ban on gravel imports from China and had reopened several rivers for quarrying.
By the end of February, Lin said, there were 5.08 million cubic meters of sand and gravel available, meeting the demand of 5 million cubic meters.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said it plans to ship its new 1 megawatt charging systems for electric trucks and buses in the first half of next year at the earliest. The new charging piles, which deliver up to 1 megawatt of charging power, are designed for heavy-duty electric vehicles, and support a maximum current of 1,500 amperes and output of 1,250 volts, Delta said in a news release. “If everything goes smoothly, we could begin shipping those new charging systems as early as in the first half of next year,” a company official said. The new
RSS